Using Mad Libs® in the Classroom: Write Your Own (Gr. 4-6)

Teach your students how to create their own Mad Libs© selections by using a family story, fairy tale, script, dialog, letter, or how-to paragraph.
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Using Mad Libs in the Classroom: Write Your Own (Gr. 4-6)

 

Write Your Own Mad Libs® (Gr. 4-6)

 

Supplement your upper elementary reading and language arts lessons on writing with these activities for use with Mad Libs® books. 

Write Your Own Mad Libs® Printable
Use this printable to have students create their own Mad Libs® stories. Students supply key words (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) to a base paragraph to create an amusing story.

You Can Do It!
Talk with students about how to create their own Mad Libs® selections. Point out that one easy way is to begin by writing a synopsis of a familiar story such as a fairy tale or folktale. Then, using a highlighter, they can go through the synopsis and delete at least ten important story words. To develop a list of clues, suggest that students use a dictionary to check each highlighted word's part of speech. Explain that if the word is a proper noun that names a specific type of person, place, or thing, they should note this in the clue. Once students have developed their clue lists, have them complete each other's Mad Libs® stories in the traditional way.

Speak on Cue
Explain that Mad Libs® are often written as skits or dialogues. Have partners collaborate to write a dialogue that could be used as a Mad Libs® story. Following the procedures described above, have them delete words and create a clue list. Then have partners exchange clue lists and work together to complete and then act out each other's Mad Libs®.
To Whom It May Concern
Letters are another great vehicle for creating an original Mad Libs® story. Review the format of a friendly letter or a business letter. Then have students compose a letter about a topic of their choosing. Suggest that they delete ten words in the body of the letter, and then follow the procedures outlined in "Speak on Cue" to develop the clue list. Consider compiling the letters in a class Mad Libs® booklet to put in the classroom library.
How-To
How-to paragraphs can also make excellent subjects for Mad Libs® stories. As students write examples of procedural text, encourage them to incorporate sequence words to help clue the chronology. Some students may find it interesting to write a selection detailing how people can create their own Mad Libs® game. By this point, they should be experts!

More Mad Libs®Teacher Guide's

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